Gimbal issues (violent twitching) since crash and home repair.

[nick0]

Hello all,

I recently went out with my Mini 2 and had a really good flight, only to stack it into a tree at the end - it was entirely my fault and the original thread about that (and asking advice for repair), is here.

On inspection, there were two issues:

1. I had cracked the front left arm up near the motor, which was dangling about on the end of the arm. I fixed this with epoxy but I'm waiting on a replacement arm as I don't trust it long term and a new arm is only £20 ish.
2. The frame that holds the gimbal (a plastic thing that connects to the shell using rubber mounts) was broken in three places and there was a warning on the app, 'Gimbal stuck'. After a bit of messing around with different glues, I glued it back together and remounted it in the shell.

I took it out tonight for a good fly around, landing early on to check things - all seemed solid, so I took it back up.

The flight itself went well but the video is more or less unwatchable as the gimbal is twitching violently at fairly regular intervals.

I've been quoted £150 to replace the gimbal but I'd really like to fix it myself if I can. Do you guys have any advice as this must be as a direct result of me crashing beforehand? The gimbal seems to move smoothly in all directions when I move it gently by hand and also when the Mini boots up and I'm not getting any error messages.

A bit of footage here, if that helps. This will be available for 28 days, but I can always extend it.

Thanks,
Nick.

 

[DJayI]

Hello all,

I recently went out with my Mini 2 and had a really good flight, only to stack it into a tree at the end - it was entirely my fault and the original thread about that (and asking advice for repair), is here.

On inspection, there were two issues:

1. I had cracked the front left arm up near the motor, which was dangling about on the end of the arm. I fixed this with epoxy but I'm waiting on a replacement arm as I don't trust it long term and a new arm is only £20 ish.
2. The frame that holds the gimbal (a plastic thing that connects to the shell using rubber mounts) was broken in three places and there was a warning on the app, 'Gimbal stuck'. After a bit of messing around with different glues, I glued it back together and remounted it in the shell.

I took it out tonight for a good fly around, landing early on to check things - all seemed solid, so I took it back up.

The flight itself went well but the video is more or less unwatchable as the gimbal is twitching violently at fairly regular intervals.

I've been quoted £150 to replace the gimbal but I'd really like to fix it myself if I can. Do you guys have any advice as this must be as a direct result of me crashing beforehand? The gimbal seems to move smoothly in all directions when I move it gently by hand and also when the Mini boots up and I'm not getting any error messages.

A bit of footage here, if that helps. This will be available for 28 days, but I can always extend it.

Thanks,
Nick.

I am only a recent Mini 2 owner. I have no repair experience on the Mini 2.
Without pictures of the damage it is harder to narrow down the possibilities.

As a general rule, I would check cables and connectors. Pay particular attention to the ribbon type cables, if equipped. If not too difficult, reseat cables and connectors. Likely these are very delicate items, caution is warranted.

Have a look at Youtube for Mavic Mini teardown or Mini 2 Teardown videos, I assume both are very similar from a teardown point of view.

A word about adhesives, bonders and plastic welders. Many of the solvents used in these types of adhesives or the byproducts of their curing, can attack sensitive electronic components, lenses and sensors. Use extra caution when using those in close proximity to them.

 

[nick0]

Hi there and thanks for your message.

Yes, I was thinking last night that it may a cable as the top ribbon cable (marked with the red arrow), had been disconnected when it crashed. When I clipped it back in, I didn't feel that it had seated down quite firmly enough but it seemed secure so i put the whole thing back together. Also, the cable marked with the green arrow was pulled about a bit as I messed with glueing the gimbal back together, maybe this was disloged a bit. the yellow dots mark where I have glued it.

So, I'll check the cables and we will see.

Interesting with what you say about the adhesives affecting the electronics but I was very careful with the glue, to put it only where it needed to be.

Thanks again and I'll let you know.

All the best,
Nick.

 

[nick0]

Well, I have reseated the top cable and pushed the bottom one in using tweezers and things are still the same. Something else that I've noticed is that sometimes the movement happens more than others, I can be quite stable for a while sometimes. Cables, maybe, or maybe I should take the green arrowed connector out altogether and push it back in.

Also I have calibrated the gimbal.

Ta,
Nick.

 

[DJayI]

The black ribbon cable with the QR code sticker appears to have a serious right-angle bend in it. As stated, I have not disassembled the Mini 2, so I don't know what that cable looks like pre-crash. However, generally sharp bends in those types of cables can break the conductors. So pay extra attention to it. If you had a way to test that cable with a multimeter, I would check it for continuity. Otherwise, check seating.

 

[nick0]

I agree, it does look bent sharply, but it isn't - its just the way the light is catching it, I think.

 

[nick0]

OKJ, just to update this, in case it helps anybody else.

After reading extensively about the gimbal issue, I eventually decided that I'd have it repaired by somebody that knew what they were doing. The front left arm, I repaired myself - since its easy enough, but the gimbal was a different story, too many variables that meant that even if I did replace the broken gimbal frame and ribbon cable, there could have been another issue that was causing the camera to twitch.

The repair service say they will need: "to replace the body of the gimbal because the motors in the gimbal are damaged as well as the body and this represents a flight safety risk."

So, that probably would have been more work than I'd have liked to have taken on myself, not being an expert at these things!

So, we will see when it *returns to home*!

Thanks,
Nick.

 

[DJayI]

Good luck with it. I hope you get your baby back working.

 

[nick0]

OK, so just to update - they have had serious trouble in getting parts. I'm in the UK, so maybe Brexit, maybe the stuck ship in the Suez Canal, maybe both!

Anyway, i had a message a couple of days ago to say the repair is complete so I am very much looking forward to getting my drone back soon!

This time I will fly high!